This invention relates to an improved calibrating unit for calibrating medical devices such as infusion pumps, which are designed to operate at a periodic, predetermined rate, as well as to a simulator for use with such calibrating units.
Modern hospitals include a wide range of equipment which plays an essential role in modern health care. Calibrating and maintaining this equipment is an important service performed by hospital engineering and technical staffs. For example, a modern hospital will generally make use of a large number of infusion pumps which operate to dispense fluids drop by drop at predetermined rates. Such infusion pumps are routinely used in intravenous administration of medication. Because these infusion pumps operate to control the rate at which medication is dipensed, it is important that they operate reliably and precisely at the desired rate.
In the past, it has been common practice in hospitals to calibrate infusion pumps on a regular basis by means of an individual with a stop watch who manually counts drops dispensed by an infusion pump being calibrated during a manually timed measurement interval. This procedure is intensive in manpower and can result in a considerable burden on the technical staff of a hospital. Similar problems arise in connection with the calibration of EKG simulators.